1) Put Her First. Let’s be honest here, this is her Big Day. She’s probably been dreaming about her wedding day since she was a little girl. Make it evident that you understand her needs and you value her opinions on flowers, place settings, even the color of the invitations. Do whatever it takes to communicate that your bride is the one in control. Nod, smile and exude graciousness and when she feels the urge to go off the deep-end, your calm example and deference will save the day.

2) Be Patient. Whatever you do, resist the desire to let your emotions get the better of you. Even if the bride-to-be is ranting, raving and being entirely unreasonable, you should remain calm. If you take the bait, that little discussion about seating arrangements and party favors might devolve into a full-blown screaming match. Be the bigger person and the entire family will rejoice silently and pat you on the back.

3) Make Her Feel like a Queen. This one’s a no-brainer. Surprise your bride with an impromptu day of pampering and you’ll have her in the palm of your hands. After  a hard day’s work filling gift bags, coordinating hotel rooms for guests or designing save the dates, lavish the lady of the hour with a pedicure, dinner in the park or her favorite movie. You’ll both be happier for it.

4) Flattery Will Get You Everywhere. Tell her how beautiful her hair is today, compliment her new shade of lip gloss or tell her why you love her. And put it all down on paper. Jotting a quick letter in a gorgeous note card will win you major points. She’ll remember your sweet sentiments and it’ll calm her fears and relieve her anxiety. But be careful not to lie – an anxious bride will be able to sense your dishonesty and may lash out.

You’re now armed with the secrets to success. Your bride is making an important life step and you’ll want to be on hand to defuse any situation before the tensions rise. Good luck; disarming a Bridezilla isn’t easy!

Resources

1. The Bridezilla Quiz
2. Beware the Bridezilla

Checklist 1: Two Weeks to Go

You’ve gotten most of the major worries out of the way but there are still some considerations:

• Are my goody bags or eco-friendly tote bags stocked with party favors like candy, keychains, magnets and other mementos?
• Have I printed out an itinerary on letterhead for the big day?
• Have I sent a copy of the invitation or save-the-date to the local paper so they can make an announcement?
• Have I had one final check-in with the photographer, band and caterer?
• Has my groom had his hair appointment?
• Have I had one last gown fitting?

Checklist 2: The 24-Hour Countdown

You’re almost there, but it’s not time to relax just yet! After months and months of preparation you may feel that you’ve done everything that needs to be done. But have you made sure the following essentials are in order?

• Have I picked up my gown and veil?
• Has the groom secured his tux?
• Have I indulged in a pedi-mani?
• Are my party favors and other important items at the reception hall?

Checklist 3: The Big Day

If you think you’re going to relax all day, forget about it. You’ve been planning for this day a long time, but there are still some last minute must-do’s you’ll have to squeeze in.

• Do I have comfortable shoes to put on after the ceremony?
• Does my Maid of Honor have my groom’s wedding band? Does the Best Man have the bride’s wedding ring?
• Has my right hand man or woman double checked that everything’s in order?

Phew. Your special day is sure to go more smoothly with this easy checklist. Wishing you a life full of love and happiness!

Resources

1. Your Wedding Day

First of all, it is important to make sure that the person receiving the invitation knows what the event is, and who it is for. Using first and last names is a smart way to avoid any confusion. Next, you’ll want to make sure that the address of the event itself is listed, along with the city and state. Again, this will just make things easier for out of town guests.

Another thing to remember to include  is the time that the event begins, and if you know, you may want to list an approximate length as well. While this is not absolutely necessary, it can be a nice courtesy to let people know how long they can plan on staying. If you have a Website set up for the event, you may want to include that, as well as directions from any relevant major cities, airports or highways. This is becoming a more popular thing to do for large-scale events such as weddings.

The last piece of important information you should include is a telephone number. If you want people to let you know for sure whether they are coming or not, point that out as well. Also make sure that the contact person’s name is on the invitation.

There are some creative touches that you can add to an invitation as well. Try including a favorite quote or fun saying to personalize the card a bit. Tuck a photo inside before you mail—or better yet, add one to the design of the invitation. You can even get return address labels printed up that will match the look exactly. There are many options to consider.

An invitation is a device to communicate the details of an event to people that you would like to have in attendance. Making sure you have the correct information on the card is important, but so is feeling good about the design. VistaPrint can help you with both of these things and make the experience go more smoothly.

VistaPrint makes things so easy that you won’t need much time to go through the process of uploading your design. You can also opt to pick out a format that works with your idea once you have things narrowed down if you want to make things simple. Knowing that you can design the announcements quickly and easily can help take the pressure off a bit as the day approaches.

Some events have more details to plan than others. Weddings are notorious for the amount of work they require. Flowers, dresses, menus and countless other details occupy the time of family and friends. This can make it difficult to find the time to create a wedding announcement. VistaPrint allows you to take the design that you had for your invitations and create something based on what you like. As a matter-of-fact, you can do both at the same time if you want to—it will save a good deal of trouble.

Graduation announcements can be done ahead of time as well. You can even base a party theme off of the design of your invitations and announcements. Again, if you plan on printing up invitations, you can do both at once to save time. VistaPrint has plenty of templates so you can get ideas for the type of look you want to create.

Sometimes is may be difficult to order announcements ahead of time, such as those announcing the birth of a new baby or a sudden move. In cases like these, take advantage of the fact that VistaPrint makes things simple for you. Use one of our pre-formatted announcements to help guide you through the process quickly and easily. It doesn’t have to be a time-consuming ordeal.

Whether you choose to do your announcements ahead of time or later on down the line, VistaPrint can help you get things done on the schedule you want. Let us do the hard part while you relax and attend to the other important details involved–it will make your life easier.

You can regularly keep a blog on your wedding site to keep guests posted on your progress in preparing for the wedding. It’s surprising how many people find wedding planning interesting. Plus you may even get some helpful advice. Leave room for comments to encourage communication.

Surveys and Quizzes

Fun surveys and light-hearted quizzes can help keep the tone of your wedding website friendly. Use your imagination to create little quizzes and polls that suit your website as well as your friends and family.

Wedding Party Bios

Ask the people in your wedding party to write a short bio for your wedding website. This is a great way to introduce them to far away family and friends that may not know them. It also involves your wedding party in your website.

Photo Album

You don’t have to have a website photo album that’s only for wedding pictures. Guests can upload their photos and you can include your engagement party, shower, wedding and honeymoon photos. A wide array of pictures helps facilitate discussions on your message board too.

Message Board

Having a message board on your wedding website is a great way for your family and friends all over the world to connect, discuss and anticipate your wedding. For those not able to make the wedding, at least they can communicate with you and family and friends as well as view photos and other information. Start off your message board with a message from the wedding couple!

Wedding Countdown Clock

A countdown clock added to your homepage or blog is the perfect addition to your wedding website. You can find a ticker décor to blend with the style and tone of your website whether it’s whimsical or elegant, formal or informal. A wedding countdown clock ticks down the hours, minutes and seconds to the big event and helps keep everyone aware of how much time is left to prepare and look forward to the wedding.

Interactive Music Section

Including an interactive music section on your wedding website can let guests help you decide which music to have at your wedding. This can be a fun feature that many family members and friends will want to participate in. You can share what your special wedding couple dance song will be or ask for votes from your guests.

Online Gift Registry

This is great feature for wedding guests because it eliminates the often frustrating guesswork of what gift to buy. Gift registries are usually very much appreciated by family and friends. Plus you can enjoy selecting wish list items from your favorite store to add to your online gift registry. Just remember to choose smaller lower priced accent pieces as well as larger gift items so that guests of all budgets and incomes can choose from your gift options.

Family Trees

Family trees for the bride and groom can be an interesting graphic on a wedding website. Choose a style that compliments the rest of your site. There are both elegant and whimsical family tree templates available. You may have to do some research to fill in the trees accurately, but knowing the ancestry of your own family and that of your soon to be spouse is probably something you’re interested in knowing anyway – especially if you plan on starting your own family soon.

Revel in being an engaged couple! Hold hands and kiss often. Take photos of the ring and of each other. Get someone to take romantic photos of the two of you walking hand in hand by the beach or in a park. Scrapbook the photos to save for the future and write “Engaged” under them with the month, day and year.

Appreciate your engagement. Delight in telling people who don’t know: “We’re engaged.” Tell your spouse to be how much you love him or her and how much you’re looking forward to the marriage. Too much fuss can be made about the wedding itself, when after all, it’s a party and the marriage is what really counts. Tuck little surprise love notes into your loved one’s coat pockets or a book he or she is reading.

Have a Wedding Countdown Blog

A countdown blog on a wedding website is a great way to enjoy and share the time until the big day. Guests are often interested in hearing about the trials and triumphs of wedding planning and your blog allows you to journal your wedding planning experiences. A countdown wedding clock feature on your blog will count down the exact time until the big day and there are many styles to choose from to add a great touch to your website.

You may even want to include some fun quizzes about you and your spouse to be for your wedding guests. A quiz title could be something like “How Well Do You Know John and Jenn?” and sample questions could be about topics such as favorite and least favorite foods, school subjects and the like. The possibilities are endless and quizzes add a light-hearted tone to your wedding countdown blog.

Throw a Great Engagement Party

Don’t wait until the wedding to celebrate with family and friends. Throw an engagement party that suits your style as a couple. You could choose custom invitations with something like “We’re engaged! Please celebrate our engagement with us at…” (date/ time/place).

The best thing about engagement parties, besides letting you share the thrill of being engaged, is that they can be as simple or elaborate as you want. You can have a dinner party at home or dinner and dancing at a posh hotel depending on your tastes and budget.

Be Stress-Free with a Master Wedding Checklist

A year or two away from the wedding isn’t too early to make a master checklist. Just keep adjusting it as you go. If you keep a written record of it, or include all the planning on your website, it’s likely to give you a sense of feeling organized as the big day draws near.

Start your checklist as soon as possible and include everything you need and need to do for your wedding planning. Set times to complete tasks. If you can’t set specific dates, then at least give yourself the month in which each item needs to be finalized. Not having to worry about the details can help you keep the wait until your wedding day stress-free.

Sit down together as a couple and decide on a wedding date that works for both of you. Consider the upcoming schedules of family and close friends. This is also the time to agree on a realistic budget. Do some research before setting the budget or you’re likely to be way under and will only end up being disappointed. Keep in mind that if you plan your special day during a holiday weekend or Valentine’s Day, you’re likely to end up paying more for flowers and/or your reception space.

9 – 12 months ahead: Pick the Place(s)

Make final decisions on where you’d like your ceremony, reception and honeymoon to be. Finalize all the plans before you announce the date to family and friends. Honeymoon reservations may only have to be made a few months ahead, but this depends on where you’ll be going and the mode of transportation. Check with a travel agent ahead of time to find out how far ahead you’ll need to book.

6 – 12 months ahead: Choose Your People

This is the time to select and notify all the people that will be involved in your wedding. Select and finalize your wedding party. Decide on and book the officiator of your ceremony as well as the caterer, musicians and photographer. Remember to think of the details such as whether you’d need separate photographers at the ceremony and reception or whether you’d prefer a videographer.

6 – 9 months ahead: Decide on Dresses

Choose your wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses. Don’t forget the accessories such as the veil, shoes and jewelry. Allow enough time for dresses to arrive and additional time for fittings and adjustments.

4 – 6 months ahead: Choose the Cake, Flowers and More

Select the cake and check with bakeries for their order and delivery times. Choose and send wedding invitations. Allow more time for out of town quests to RSVP. Be sure you have up to date addresses for everyone on your guest list as even invitations for informal weddings should be hand addressed and mailed out.

This is a good time to create a wedding website. You can include a separate card inside your invitations with the website address so guests can communicate with you and each other in the months leading up to the wedding as well as after the wedding. Having a wedding countdown clock on the site is helpful because it automatically ticks down the months, days, hours, minutes and seconds to the big day.

Choose the flowers for the wedding party, ceremony and reception. If cost is an issue, stick to flowers in season. If you need a specific flower in a certain color, order ahead.

The groom should select his wedding day outfit. The wedding couple should also register for gifts as well as think ahead to be prepared with Visas, immunizations and medical insurance for the honeymoon.

3 months ahead: Make Guest Accommodation Arrangements

Make hotel reservations for your out of town guests. You may need more time if a convention or other events are taking place in your location around the time of your wedding. Make sure you and your guests receive confirmation of the reservations.

1 -2 months – Complete Important Miscellaneous Tasks

Now is the time to take care of all those important last minute – well last month – details. Get blood tests and the marriage license. Make arrangements for the rehearsal dinner and send out the invitations for the dinner. Confirm times for the photographer and videographer.

Make arrangements for the bridal luncheon including the details such as flowers. Send out invitations for the bridal luncheon. The wedding couple should have their honeymoon wardrobe purchased.

1-2 weeks ahead – Have Gifts Ready for the Wedding Party

Buy and wrap gifts for the wedding party including your spouse to be. For engravings and special orders, this may take more time than just a week or two, so think ahead as to what your gifts will be and how much time you’ll need.

1 day ahead – Get Ready to Be Married!

It’s finally here! Make sure the officiator of your wedding has your license. Relax and enjoy your rehearsal dinner knowing you’ve planned a great wedding!

A wedding countdown clock is the perfect addition to a wedding website. It’s an automatic timer, or ticker, that counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until your big day. A wedding day is a milestone that deserves great anticipation and a countdown clock can help focus the anticipation and excitement by always letting you and your guests know how much time is left until the eventful day arrives.

Adding a countdown clock to your website is easy to do. Just look for a reliable web company that provides a style of clock that you like. You can include the wedding countdown clock on the homepage of your wedding website or on your blog or message board.

A Wedding Countdown Clock Can Help Keep Everyone Organized

Wedding countdown clocks let you and your wedding guests know exactly how much time is left to prepare. Since weddings must be planned months or even years ahead, it’s easy to lose track of the time as it just seems to roll by. A countdown clock is a fun website feature, yet it also helps everyone stay organized and prepared as they’ll always know just how close the wedding is getting.

Family and friends who read your website wedding blog will probably love to keep updated with how your wedding planning is going. With a countdown clock added, they’ll also be reminded of how much time they have to prepare and look forward to the big day.

A Countdown Clock Can Improve Your Website’s Style

The looks of wedding countdown clocks are as varied as each couple’s wedding website. This means you can find the countdown clock that best compliments your website’s style. There are light-hearted and humorous wedding tickers with animated characters and colorful graphics. There are also beautiful and romantic wedding countdown clocks with scripted fonts and photographs such as roses and pearls or piano keys. You can find pastel or jewel toned colors.

A sporty wedding countdown clock such as one that includes a photograph of a wedding couple in gown and suit hand in hand outdoors fits great in a wedding website with a casual theme. The bride and groom could post their own photos taken outdoors such as of themselves riding bikes or just walking on the beach holding hands. There are many other possibilities of wedding countdown clock designs – just use your imagination and choose one that fits in with your personality and your wedding website’s design.